The primary objective of this program is to provide short-term (10 weeks) training experiences for sixteen talented minority students in the area of cardiovascular function and disease. The long range goal is to increase the number of minority health professionals in cardiovascular biology through interest generated by exposure to a broad spectrum of research activities in this area. The 32 faculty mentors participating in the program have been selected on the basis of their active research in the areas of cardiac hypertrophy, developmental cardiobiology, vascular biology, genetics, receptors and signaling, and structure-function of membrane proteins. Several of the faculty conduct clinical and patient oriented research on diseases that disproportionately affect African Americans, notably the metabolic syndrome, risk profile of hypertension, diabetes, and obesity. Students in the training program will be exposed to all areas of research, and will be involved in an ongoing project in one of the participating laboratories. Students will participate in a lecture series on cutting edge areas of biological research. In addition, laboratory safety and research ethics will be addressed. At the conclusion of the training period, the students will prepare a brief written paper and give an oral presentation on their project. The program will be evaluated at the end of each year based on the effectiveness of the recruiting, exit interviews with the students, and summary statements provided by the mentors. Additionally, the students' career choices and progress will be tracked by yearly contact with each of the participants.